Search Results for: truckinginfocom-denton-record-chronicle

2017-08-23

How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car

Editor’s Note: Caroline Little teaches all levels of French and moderates an engineering co-curricular at St. Thomas Academy, an all-boys school in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Here she provides a report on the program and the benefits it provides to participating students.

Power Systems Research has been a lead sponsor of the special Experimental Vehicle Team (EVT) at St. Thomas for many years. This year, the team won its class in the Shell Eco-Marathon international competition in London. This report from Ms. Little discusses the program and the benefits it provides for high school students interested in science, technology, engineering and match (STEM).

By Caroline Little

Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. The internationally recognized program started in 1997. My fellow moderator Mark Westlake and I believe in the importance of learning from mistakes. That the most important life lessons come from experience, that science is not always easy and that the answers are not always found in the back of the book.

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Product Definitions Guide

Product Descriptions by Segment and Application Power Systems Research tracks some 250 products in 13 major industrial segments. This Guide defines each product that PSR lists in its proprietary databases. Segment: Agriculture Application: 2-Wheel Tractors 2-Wheel Tractors Application: Ag Tractors 2-Wheel Drive Tractors 4WD Articulated Ag Tractors MFWD Tractors (Mechanical Front Wheel Drive) Tracked Ag

2020-02-04

Near Term Recession Fears Recede in North America

SUMMARY.  The North American economy remained stable in 2019 and pure economic conditions as well as fundamentals in the region were favorable. Most industries performed very well, and the short-term outlook remains stable to flat for most market segments. However, we see many new developments that could suggest a shift in the trend.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

Consumer confidence declined slightly in December, following a moderate increase in November.  The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index stood at 126.5 in December, 1.4 points higher than in September 2019. 

Per Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “While consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, their expectations declined, driven primarily by a softening in their short-term outlook regarding jobs and financial prospects. While the economy hasn’t shown signs of further weakening, there is little to suggest that growth, and in particular consumer spending, will gain momentum in early 2020.”

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2020-02-25

2020 Wheel Loaders/Dozers Production Forecast: 20,200

This is an updated version of an article that initially appeared in the February 2020 issue of PowerTALK News.

This is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Wheel Loaders to be produced in the United States in 2020.

Carol Turner
Carol Turner

This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.

Market Share: With combined plant totals of 47%, Caterpillar leads in production of Wheel Loaders/Dozers in the United States. In second position is Deere with 22%. Third, is Case New Holland with 8%.

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2020-04-25

SOUTH KOREA REPORT: Doosan Infracore Hikes Sales Promotion with SNS in China

Doosan Infracore announced on March 24 that “the share of product marketing and customer support using live content broadcasting on SNS is growing in China.” The company has conducted more than 20 live machine maintenance training sessions through SNS, and the total number of users has reached about 7,300, with 140,000 followers on WeChat.

More than 1,200 machines were sold through such online marketing, and the sales of parts sold on WeChat reached 10 billion won.

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2020-05-24

South Korea: Hyundai and Kia Expand EV Models

According to the Hyundai Motor Group, both Hyundai and Kia plan to offer 44 eco-car models by 2025, more than half of which will be dedicated to EVs (23 models).

Akihiro Komuro
Akihito Komuro

Hyundai revealed in its 2025 strategy announced at the end of last year that it would increase EV and FCV sales to 560,000 and 110,000 units respectively. Kia has set a goal of selling 500,000 EVs and 1 million eco-cars by 2026, with 11 EV models available across all vehicle classes by 2025.

Source:            Yonhap News Agency

PSR Analysis: At present, both vehicle production and exports fell significantly in April due to the impact of COVID-19. In April, production fell 22.2% YOY and exports fell 44.3% YOY. But when we look at eco-cars, exports and domestic sales increased by 11.5% and 28.3% respectively.

Even during the predicament caused by the new coronavirus, the eco-car ratio is showing an increasing trend. Exports of EVs jumped 94.6% to a record 9,761 units. Of course, the entire South Korean auto industry is badly hurt by the ongoing corona shock.

However, even against this huge drop, Korean-branded eco-cars, including EVs, may be beginning to gain international recognition. Growth in external demand for these eco-cars will be a prerequisite for the recovery of Korean automobile production in the future. PSR

Akihiro Komuro is a Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research

2020-07-26

Powersports Industry Leading Economic Comeback

The Powersports industry–featuring ATVs, motorcycles and watercraft–appears to be leading the way on the road to economic recovery. According to Motorcycle & Powersports News magazine, this increased demand for powersports is helping values bounce back from historic lows.

Michael Aistrup
Michael Aistrup

According to Scott Yarbrough, senior analyst for motorcycle and powersports at Black Book: “After the first month of the COVID-19, shutdowns put a freeze on powersports values during the beginning of the spring selling season, and the second month saw dramatic declines.

This month values are up across the board, some by the largest amounts we have ever seen in a monthly update. A combination of surprisingly strong demand, coupled with drops in availability of units, has led to this resurgence in values,”

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Rural Economy Helping Ride Out COVID Impact

With extended lockdowns in most parts of India, the production of all non-essentials was at a halt or at minuscule levels in April and May until the economy was unlocked. This move reduced demand in the short-term, but owing to intrinsic domestic demand, we are optimistic about future business expectations

Aditya Kondejkar

Better Outlook of Rural Economy

However, hope has arisen from India’s rural part as the agriculture sector appears to have been relatively less impacted by the lockdown. This part of the country never truly went into a harsh lockdown, and thus procurement, harvest, and consumer activities have remained unaffected. Farming continued during the lockdown, especially for rice and wheat cultivation. The return of migrant workers caused a surplus of agricultural labor. This resulted in the fact – more land was brought under cultivation than ever before. As a result, the country has witnessed a good season of rabi harvest.

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PowerTALK™ News, August 2020

PSR-PowerTALK_August2020-FINALDownload

The August issue of PowerTALK™ News reports on moves by BP to fund EV development. It also contains items from Chris Fisher the senior commercial vehicle analyst at Power Systems Research. Here are the articles contained in this issue:

  • NA: Gen-Set Opportunities
  • NA: BP Moves on EV Program
  • NA: B&S Files Chapter 11
  • NA: Trucking News
  • DataPoint: Off-Highway Trucks
  • EU: Wacker Neuson Expands EVs
  • BRAZIL: Higher Octane Gasoline Offered
  • BRAZIL: PROCONVE P8 May Be Delayed
  • CHINA: Record Sales for SGMW’s MINI EV
  • TAIWAN: Audi Expands EV Charging
  • JAPAN: Kubota Plans US Factory
  • SOUTH KOREA: Doosan China Sales Climb
  • SE ASIA: Used CE Prices Decline
  • INDIA: EV Battery Program Launched
  • RUSSIA: Mercedes Plans  Plant
  • RUSSIA: BMW Plant Scheduled
  • RUSSIA: Amkodor Plant Started

2020-08-23

How Does Market Brace for Low Speed EV Impact?

By August 12, after 20 days of product launch, SGMW’s MINI EV will hit a sales record of 15,000 vehicles, making it the world’s fastest car model reaching the threshold of 10,000 units.

Source: D1 EV      Read The Article

Qin Fen
Qin Fen

PSR Analysis: Consider BYD’s electric bus, SGMW’s MINI EV, as well as premium car brands like Tesla: These traditional and emerging automotive OEMs are reformulating rules of the auto game, with their own proprietary technology. 

As a matter of fact, it’s not just the automotive market that needs to brace for the impact of electrification, the off-road market also is trending toward electrification.  The changing markets include passenger car, light commercial vehicle, medium and heavy duty vehicle, forklift, and lawn mower. Will this wave continue to expand to other off-road applications?  How much more will it change the rules of the game?     PSR

Qin Fen is Business Development Manager for Power Systems Research